GIFT  OF 
Class  of  1887. 


IIIIUIIIIIIiillllllUlililllllllM 


jEtwlittiitn 


AMANDA  M.  HICKS 


SPIRITUAL  EVOLUTION 
SIX  STUDIES 

By 

AMANDA  M.  HICKS 

Berkeley,  California 


THE  MERCHANTS  PRESS 
Berkeley,  California 


Copyright  1917 

by 
Amanda  M .  Hicks 


Contents 

Introduction  Page  5 

I.  Spiritual  Heredity        -  -      Page  6 

II.  Spiritual  Environment,      -          -  Page  9 

and  Survival  of  the  Fittest. 

III.  Spiritual  Life        -        -        -        -        Page  14 

IV.  Spiritual  Dynamics  Page  19 

V.  Spiritual  Gravitation  -        Page  24 

VI.  The  Spiritual  Kingdom  -    Page  27 

For  Reading: 
The  Gospel  according  to  John. 

For  Memory: 

John  15:1-17          John  17:20-26 
Ephesians  3:14-21 


671713 


INTRODUCTION. 


Evolution  is  defined  by  science  as  a  process  of 
systematic  development  by  which  things  that  are  have 
come  to  be  what  they  are. 

Add  to  this  Le  Conte's  definition,  "Evolution  is 
the  Divine  Method  of  Creation." 

These  studies  in  spiritual  evolution  are  based  on 
the  axiomatic  principles  that  "all  forces  of  nature  are 
forms  of  divine  energy,  and  all  laws  of  nature  are 
regular  modes  of  operation  of  divine  energy,  or  will." 
Many  men  of  science  have  thus  far  been  content  to 
limit  the  principle  of  evolution  to  physical  and  mental 
development. 

We  shall  find  a  rich  vein  of  thought  opening  to 
our  minds  if  we  follow  the  lead  of  some  of  the  most 
profound  men  of  science  and  philosophy  of  today  who 
recognize  that  the  principle  of  evolution  includes  also 
spiritual  development. 

This  is  the  theme  to  which  we  are  to  give  our 
attention  in  these  studies. 


FIRST  STUDY. 
SPIRITUAL  HEREDITY. 

Heredity  in  a  biological  sense  is  the  name  given  to 
the  generalization  drawn  from  observed  facts  that 
plants  and  animals  closely  resemble  their  progenitors. 

Men  of  science  who  have  failed  to  extend  the  prin- 
ciple of  evolution  beyond  the  physical  and  mental 
have  naturally  failed  to  include  spiritual  heredity  as 
a  factor  in  human  evolution. 

That  we  may  see  this  subject  in  its  true  perspective 
we  turn  to  the  prologue  to  St.  John's  Gospel  and  take 
as  our  starting  point  the  time,  the  person  and  the  work 
of  the  Word  as  set  forth  in  John  I,  1-14. 

"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word. 

The  Word  was  God. 

All  things  were  made  through  Him. 

In  Him  was  Life. 

The  Word  became  incarnate  and  dwelt  among  us." 

One  great  purpose  of  the  Word  in  coming  to  earth 
in  the  flesh  as  Jesus  the  Christ  was  to  establish  here 
and  now  a  spiritual  kingdom  in  which  the  will  of 
God  shall  be  done  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 

That  man  might  know  his  true  place  in  the  divine 
order  it  was  needful  to  make  known  God  as  a  Father 
and  every  man  as  a  possible  son  of  God. 

The  Old  Testament  gives  only  glimpses  of  the 
truth  that  God  is  a  father.  Jesus  came  to  reveal  to 
man  in  its  fulness  the  truth  that  God  is  "Our 
Father."  He  came  not  only  to  teach  us  this  truth  by 
word  of  mouth;  He  came  to  show  us  the  Father. 
Having  lived  among  men  his  life  of  perfect  purity 
and  love,  of  lowly  service  and  sacrifice,  he  said  in 
that  wonderful  upper  room  talk,  "He  that  hath  seen 
6 


me  hath  seen  the  Father."    John  14:9. 

The  correlative  of  God  as  Father  is  man  a  son 
of  God.  Man's  greatest  privilege  on  earth  is  to  be  a 
child  of  God.  Man's  unique  endowment,  the  power 
of  choice;  not  absolute  but  relative.  But  even  so 
this  power  is  so  far  reaching,  so  wonderful  that  no  one 
has  yet  sounded  the  possibilities  it  presents  to  the 
human  soul.  Man  cannot  choose  whose  child  he  shall 
be  physically;  cannot  choose  his  physical  parentage, 
hence  cannot  choose  his  physical  heredity.  But  he 
can  choose  whose  child  he  shall  be  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  hence  can  choose  his  spiritual  heredity,  and  so 
not  only  become  a  son  of  God  but  a  partaker  of  the 
Divine  nature  as  his  birthright. 

When  Jesus  came  in  the  flesh  to  his  own  people 
they  did  not  as  a  people  receive  him;  but  some  did 
as  individuals  receive  him  and  to  these  he  gave 
power  to  become  sons  of  God.  Those  who  received 
him  became  sons  of  God  by  a  process  which  is  called 
birth.  John  1:12-13. 

Birth  is  not  the  beginning  of  life.  It  is  transition 
into  a  larger  sphere  of  life,  a  life  of  opportunities  for 
growth  and  development  that  could  not  be  known  in 
the  pre-natal  state. 

Much  mystery  has  been  thrown  around  the  fact  of 
a  spiritual  birth,  and  yet  the  conditions  of  spiritual 
birth  have  been  set  forth  in  words  and  by  symbols 
that  startle  us  by  their  simplicity.  In  each  case  we 
find  either  expressed  or  implied  a  divine  invitation  or 
command;  a  simple  human  act  of  choice,  and  a  divine 
response,  a  Gift. 

Here  is  a  typical  case.  My  sheep  hear  my  voice. 
This  is  the  call  of  the  shepherd.  They  follow  me. 


This  is  an  act  of  choice.  I  give  to  them  eternal  life, 
the  divine  gift.  John  10:27-28. 

The  conditions  of  spiritual  birth  are  like  that. 
They  are  like  opening  a  door  in  response  to  a  knock, 
Rev.  3:20;  like  asking  for  and  taking  a  drink  of 
water,  John  4:10;  like  eating  offered  bread,  John  6:51; 
like  accepting  an  invitation  to  a  wedding  feast,  Mat. 
22:1-5;  like  coming  home  from  the  "Far  Country" 
to  the  Father's  house,  Luke  15:11-24;  like  chickens 
fleeing  to  the  sheltering  wings,  Mat.  23:37;  like  tak- 
ing an  offered  gift,  "The  Gift  of  God  is  eternal  Life." 
Rom.  6:23.  A  gift  cannot  be  given  unless  there  is 
one  with  a  will  to  receive  it.  God  himself  cannot 
bestow  the  gift  of  life  which  comes  with  the  new  birth, 
upon  one  who  does  not  choose  to  receive  it.  Yet  a 
little  child  may  choose  to  take  this  gift.  Our  little 
ones  need  not  go  into  the  "Far  Country"  before  they 
come  to  be  at  home  in  the  Father's  house;  before 
they  are  born  into  the  Father's  family.  "Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  to  me.  Of  such  is  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven." 

Spiritual  birth  is  set  forth  by  Jesus  as  the  one 
condition  of  entering  the  kingdom  which  he  came  to 
reveal  upon  earth.  The  fact  of  spiritual  birth  in  in- 
dividuals is  to  be  known,  not  by  a  wordy  profession, 
but  by  a  life;  known  as  the  wind  is  known,  by  its 
effects;  known  as  the  life  of  the  vine  is  known  in 
the  branches  by  their  power  to  bear  fruit.  John 
15:1-17. 

Through  spiritual  birth  man  becomes  not  only  a 
child  of  God  and  by  heredity  a  partaker  of  the  Fath- 
er's nature;  he  becomes  an  heir  of  God  and  a  joint 
heir  with  Christ.  Rom.  8:16-17. 

It  is  well  at  times  to  take  account  of  our  riches. 


We  become  heirs  to  his  peace,  My  peace  I  give  to 
you,  John  14:27;  heirs  to  his  joy,  That  they  may  have 
my  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves,  John  17:13;  heirs  to 
his  continued  work  of  bringing  in  the  kingdom  by 
means  of  his  continued  presence  and  power,  Mat. 
28:18-20  and  Acts  1:8;  heirs  to  his  abundant  life, 
John  10:10;  heirs  to  likeness  to  God  through  son- 
ship,  I  John  3:2;  "Beloved,  now  are  we  children 
of  God  and  it  is  not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall 
be.  We  know  that  if  he  shall  be  manifested  we  shall 
be  like  him." 

To  stop  here  in  counting  our  riches  would  be  to 
do  injustice  to  a  vital  principle  in  the  life  and  teach- 
ings of  Jesus,  the  principle  of  self  sacrifice.  We  fail 
if  we  too  constantly  picture  the  Christian  life  as  a 
child's  holiday.  We  started  with  Paul,  but  thus  far 
have  failed  to  follow  to  the  limit  that  stern  old  war- 
rior who  counted  not  his  own  life  dear  unto  himself, 
and  who  in  declaring  that  we  shall  be  children  of 
God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ  adds  this  significant 
clause  as  a  condition,  "If  so  be  that  we  suffer  with 
him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  with  him." 

SECOND  STUDY. 

SPIRITUAL    ENVIRONMENT    AND 
SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST. 

The  word  environment  in  its  simplest  sense  means 
surroundings.  Used  in  this  sense  there  may  be  an 
environment  of  relationship  or  an  environment  of 
proximity  without  relationship.  A  dry  seed  sur- 
rounded by  air  is  in  proximity  to  the  air,  but  unre- 
lated to  that  environment.  The  living  leaf  is  related 
to  the  surrounding  air  by  its  power  to  take  in  through 

9 


pores  the  CO2  and  so  help  in    building    the    living 
tissues  of  the  plant. 

Spencer  says,  "Whatever  power  an  organism  ex- 
pends in  any  shape  is  the  equivalent  of  power  taken 
in  from  without."  We  all  know  how  important  is  the 
influence  of  surroundings  in  bringing  to  perfection 
plants  and  lower  animals,  and  in  modifying  the  phys- 
ical and  mental  development  of  human  beings. 

In  physical  life,  which  seems  to  be  more  essen- 
tial, the  organism  or  the  environment?  We  shall  find 
that  each  is  helpless  without  the  other.  Air,  light, 
heat,  electricity,  soil  and  water  without  an  organism 
through  which  to  manifest  themselves  would  be  only 
chemical  elements  and  natural  forces;  would  not  be 
plant,  would  not  be  lower  animal,  would  not  be 
physical  man.  And  an  organism,  plant,  or  animal, 
without  an  environment  of  chemical  elements  and 
physical  forces,  could  it  exist? 

But  man,  the  goal  of  the  animal  series,  is  mind  as 
well  as  body.  Without  human  environment  from  in- 
fancy, if  indeed  he  could  exist,  what  would  he  be? 
Suppose  him  to  be  brought  up  from  birth  by  a  family 
of  monkeys,  could  he  speak?  Would  he  walk  on  all 
fours?  What  of  his  intellectual  development?  Man 
needs  for  normal  mind  development  an  environment 
of  human  beings;  of  plant  and  animal  life;  of  land 
and  sea;  of  sky  and  sun  and  stars;  of  books  and 
teachers;  of  art  and  music. 

Through  developed  intellect  and  scientific  discov- 
eries and  mechanical  devices  man  adds  a  universe  to 
his  environment  and  multiplies  his  physical  power 
almost  without  limit.  His  unceasing  effort  is  to  fur- 
ther enlarge  his  thought  environment  and  further  in- 
crease his  physical  power. 
10 


But  man  is  not  only  body  and  mind.  He  is  spirit, — 
that  "Something"  within,  which  knows  instinctively, 
unless  it  has  become  petrified  by  neglect  or  false 
teachings,  that  back  of  the  flower  is  the  maker  of  the 
flower;  beyond  the  star  is  the  maker  of  the  star,  and 
that  physical  death  does  not  end  all. 

There  was  an  old  idea  of  a  God  who  created  the 
universe  all  at  once,  wound  it  up  as  one  winds  a 
clock,  then  left  it  to  run  itself, — an  absentee  God. 
The  later  idea,  not  yet  universal,  is  of  a  God  immi- 
nent, resident  in  nature,  shaping  with  infinite  skill  the 
buds  and  blossoms  of  today,  controlling  all  things  by 
divine  law,  upholding  all  things  by  divine  power. 
John  5:17.  The  environment  of  every  human  soul  is 
God.  "In  him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being." 
The  whole  universe  is  a  whispering  gallery  in  which 
God  is  sending  out  his  wireless  messages  in  every 
direction,  but  only  he  who  keeps  his  soul  attuned  to 
the  divine  call  receives  the  message.  Man  has  the 
power  of  choice  to  respond  or  not  to  respond  to  his 
divine  environment.  It  may  be  to  him  only  an  en- 
vironment of  proximity  and  not  of  relationship. 
"Their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing  and  their  eyes  have 
they  closed."  The  response  of  a  soul  to  spiritual 
environment  is  spiritual  life,  which  is  the  Gift  of 
God  at  the  new  birth.  This  is  the  topic  for  our  third 
study. 

THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST. 
Another  factor  in  evolution  advanced  by  scientists 
is  "The  Survival  of  the  Fittest."  Yet  even  science  is 
now  discrediting  its  own  terms,  for  in  the  evolution 
of  plant  and  lower  animal  the  strong  survive  and  the 
weak  perish,  and  the  strong  are  not  always  the  most 
fit. 


In  the  lower  forms  of  life  there  is,  if  any,  only 
very  little  power  of  choice  on  the  part  of  the  organ- 
ism. As  we  ascend  to  the  plane  of  human  evolution 
we  find  a  new  factor  in  action,  the  conscious  volun- 
tary co-operation  of  the  thing  evolving,  in  the  process 
of  its  own  evolution.  Man,  endowed  as  he  is  with 
the  power  of  choice,  is  capable  of  responding  to  the 
attractive  force  of  ideals. 

Every  human  being  whether  high  or  low  in  the 
scale  of  development  has  moments  when  he  sees  in 
flashlight  a  better  self  than  he  is.  He  feels  within 
himself  the  draw  to  ascend  to  the  plane  of  divine  life 
and  divine  law,  and  he  feels  the  counter  urge  to  fol- 
low the  line  of  least  resistance  and  descend  to  the 
level  of  the  beast;  to  the  law  of  the  jungle,  the  law 
of  claw  and  tooth.  This  is  the  new  problem  in  the 
man  plane  of  evolution.  Not  shall  the  physically  fit 
individual  survive  and  the  unfit  perish;  but  shall  the 
fittest  in  each  individual  survive  and  the  unfit  perish? 
Shall  his  best  ideals,  his  finest  visions,  his  noblest  self 
survive  and  become  permanent;  or  shall  these  die 
and  the  unfit  survive  and  become  permanent? 

Here  is  the  fierce  battleground  of  life,  the  place 
where  character  is  made,  where  the  virility  of  man- 
hood is  tested.  This  is  the  field  of  destiny.  Each 
man  must  make  choice  at  every  step  of  the  way. 

Some  think  the  battle  is  done  when  the  soul  is 
born  into  the  spiritual  kingdom,  but  in  truth  the  fight 
is  then  only  begun.  The  choice  to  open  the  door  of 
life  to  God  is  one  great  victory,  but  it  stands  at  the 
beginning  and  not  at  the  end  of  the  Christian  life. 
Paul  won  his  first  victory  on  the  road  to  Damascus 
and  could  say  boldly,  "I  was  not  disobedient  to  the 
heavenly  vision."  Acts  26:19.  Twenty  years  later, 
12 


after  he  had  preached  the  gospel  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Macedonia  and  Greece  and  won  untold  numbers  to 
Christ,  he  wrote  to  the  converts  in  Corinth,  "I  buffet 
my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  lest  after  I  have 
preached  to  others  I  myself  should  be  rejected, — 
should  become  a  castaway."  I  Cor.  9:27.  Later  still 
he  wrote  to  the  disciples  in  Rome,  "I  find  then  a  law 
that  to  me  who  would  do  good,  evil  is  present."  Read 
the  whole  account  in  Romans  7:14-24  and  note  the 
agony  of  a  tempted  soul  as  he  cries  out,  "Wretched 
man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body 
of  this  death?" 

Fortunately  for  Paul  he  saw  his  danger  and  knew 
the  one  source  of  strength  that  would  give  him  the 
victory.  "I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  Here  we  turn  with  joy  to  the  ever  present 
Christ  who  in  the  days  when  he  dwelt  in  the  flesh 
was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without 
sin,  Heb.  4:15,  and  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered, 
being  tempted  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted.  Heb.  2:18.  Only  by  his  help  shall  the  fit- 
test in  each  soul  survive  and  the  unfit  die. 

But  to  the  soul  that  aspires  to  highest  attainments 
in  the  spiritual  life  the  choice  is  not  always  between 
that  which  is  morally  good  and  that  which  is  positively 
evil.  Far  more  often  the  choice  is  between  the  good 
and  the  better;  between  the  better  and  the  best.  The 
ground  that  produced  thirty  fold  is  called  good 
ground.  So  of  the  ground  that  brought  sixty  fold. 
But  there  was  ground  that  produced  one  hundred 
fold. 

It  is  unfit  that  any  child  of  God  should  be  content 
with  less  than  the  best  when  power  is  at  hand  to  give 
him  the  best. 

13 


"God  gives  his  best  gifts  to  the  few 

Who  dare  to  stand  the  test; 
He  gives  his  second  choice  to  those 
Who  will  not  choose  the  best." 

THIRD  STUDY. 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

In  our  study  of  "Spiritual  Heredity  we  have  dealt 
with  the  beginnings  of  the  evolution  of  spiritual  life, 
and  have  seen  that  the  environment  of  relationship  to 
God  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  process.  We  are  now 
to  follow  the  further  development  of  the  soul  life. 
We  are  to  study  the  divine  process  of  making  full 
grown  men  and  women  from  new-born  souls. 

Evolution  as  a  process  is  in  action  all  around  us 
today  in  the  making  of  a  leaf  or  a  flower  from  a  bud; 
in  making  a  bird  on  the  wing  from  a  life  germ  in 
the  egg;  in  the  making  of  far  off  worlds  from  star 
dust;  in  the  making  of  men  who  are  of  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  Christ  from  new  born  spiritual  chil- 
dren. Eph.  4:13-14. 

What  is  Life?  Spencer  has  said,  "Life  is  contin- 
uous adjustment  of  inner  relations  to  outer  relations." 
Henry  Churchill  King  says,  "Life  is  correspondence 
to  environment."  These  are  not  true  definitions  of 
what  life  is.  They  only  state  the  conditions  of  active, 
evolving  life.  There  is  latent,  passive  life  in  the  seed 
germ;  in  millions  of  seeds  stored  dry  for  the  spring 
planting;  but  no  adjustment  to  outer  relations,  no 
correspondence  to  environment.  The  spiritually  un- 
born soul  is  alive,  but  not  adjusted  to  divine  relations; 
not  responsive  to  divine  environment.  Jesus  himself 
called  this  condition  spiritual  death.  John  5:25. 
Death  is  separation,  not  annihilation.  The  father  said 
14 


of  the  son  who  had  gone  into  the  far  country,  "This 
my  son  was  dead."  The  Far  Country  is  not  a  place. 
It  is  a  state  of  mind  and  heart.  It  is  lack  of  re- 
sponse to  the  divine  environment — to  the  Father's  love. 
Self  separation  from  God  is  spiritual  death.  Oneness 
with  God  is  spiritual  life. 

Spiritual  life  is  not  a  created  entity.  It  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  the  creator;  of  the  Christ  who  said, 
"I  am  the  Life."  If  we  can  define  "God,"  we  can 
define  "Life."  These  terms  are  too  great  for  defini- 
tion. 

Out  of  his  own  rich  full  nature  Christ  has  this 
gift  of  spiritual  life  for  man,  for  every  man  who  will 
choose  to  take  it.  "The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life. 
I  am  come  that  ye  may  have  life." 

But  man  may  choose  not  only  to  be  a  spirit-born 
soul,  a  child  of  God.  He  may  choose  to  be  a  full 
grown  man  in  the  spiritual  kingdom.  I  am  come, 
not  only  that  you  may  have  life,  but  that  you  may 
have  it  in  abundance.  John  10:10. 

Abundant  life  in  the  plant  and  animal  world 
comes  through  proper  correspondence  with  favorable 
environment  Life  and  abundant  life  in  the  spir- 
itual realm  depend  on  certain  conditions  analogous 
to  those  that  we  find  in  physical  life.  Jesus  constantly 
used  the  conditions  of  physical  life  and  growth  to 
make  plain  soul  life  and  development.  For  full  vig- 
orous life  and  growth  every  plant  and  every  animal 
must  have  air  to  breathe.  Breath  is  necessary  to  the 
growing  plant  as  to  the  living  animal.  The  breath  of 
life  for  the  spirit  of  man  is  the  Spirit  of  Truth  prom- 
ised by  the  Master  as  he  was  about  to  depart  from 
the  earth  in  his  physical  manifestation.  Jesus  ac- 
ts 


counted  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  more  value 
to  man  than  his  physical  presence.  He  said,  "It  is 
better  for  you  that  I  go  away."  He  even  promised 
that  the  Spirit  of  Truth  should  guide  men  into  knowl- 
edge that  he  could  not  then  reveal.  John  16:12-13. 
Christ  in  the  flesh  was  limited  in  time  and  place. 
Christ  in  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  in  all  times 
and  all  places,  in  every  human  heart  in  all  the  world, 
that  has  opened  the  door  to  him;  and  he  is  here  to 
abide  forever.  He  is  here  to  do,  through  those  who 
believe  on  him,  greater  works  than  he  did  in  the 
flesh.  John  14:12-18. 

Every  form  of  physical  life  depends  upon  water  for 
its  primal  development  and  for  its  continued  existence 
and  growth.  We  find  Jesus  again  and  again  using 
water  as  a  symbol  in  relation  to  spiritual  life  and 
growth  and  out-go.  Note  his  answer  to  the  woman  at 
the  well.  John  4:10.  On  the  great  day  of  the  feast 
when  the  priests  carried  from  the  pool  of  Siloam  the 
golden  pitcher  brimming  with  water  to  be  poured  out 
at  the  temple,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  "If  any  man 
thirst  let  him  come  to  me  and  drink.  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me  out  of  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water."  John  7:37-38. 

The  symbols  used  by  Jesus  to  represent  soul  food 
are  so  rich  and  varied  that  we  can  only  suggest  a  con- 
tinued study  of  so  wonderful  a  theme.  "Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread."  Does  any  one  suppose  that 
Jesus  thought  only  of  bread  for  the  body  when  he 
taught  us  to  pray  this  prayer?  "Man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  God."  For 
Christ's  most  profound  teachings  concerning  food  and 
drink  for  the  spirit  of  man  read  the  great  parables  in 
John  6:26-59  and  John  15:1-17. 
16 


For  the  hunger  and  thirst  of  the  soul  there  is  no 
satisfaction  but  in  eating  of  the  Living  Bread  and 
drinking  of  the  fountain  of  Living  Water. 

Other  essentials  for  normal  development  in  the 
higher  forms  of  plant  and  animal  life  are  sunlight  and 
heat.  Note  the  vine  that  creeps  into  a  dark  cellar,  how 
it  loses  color  and  strength  and  power  for  hearing  blos- 
som or  fruit.  Call  to  mind  the  blind  fish  in  the 
Mammoth  Cave  and  the  pitiful  pale  children  reared 
in  cold  dark  tenement  houses. 

An  old  time  prophet  announced  the  coming  Christ 
as  "the  Sun  of  Righteousness";  and  how  often  the 
Master  used  the  wonderful  indefinable  something  that 
we  call  Light,  to  set  forth  his  own  character  and 
mission.  Enough  that  he  said,  "I  am  the  Light  of 
the  world.  He  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in 
darkness,  but  shall  have  the  Light  of  Life."  John 
8:12. 

But  physical  man  needs  for  his  best  development 
not  only  the  conditions  we  have  named,  but  he  needs 
exercise  and  rest.  So  of  the  spiritual  man.  "Jesus 
said,  I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me." 
"As  the  Father  hath  sent  me  so  send  I  you."  There 
is  no  growing  spiritual  life  without  service,  without 
work  of  some  kind,  and  those  who  work  must  find 
rest.  For  rest  there  are  two  conditions,  rest  from 
labor  and  rest  in  labor.  Jesus  recognized  that  both 
are  needful.  To  the  tired  disciples  he  said,  "Come 
apart  and  rest  a  while."  Mark  6:31.  His  ideal  for 
rest  in  labor  is  beautifully  pictured  in  the  parable  of 
the  Yoke.  Matt.  11:28-30.  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me  and  ye 
17 


shall  find  rest  to  your  souls.  My  yoke  is  easy;  my 
burden  is  light." 

Many  think  of  the  yoke  as  a  symbol  of  servitude, 
of  bondage.  It  is  in  reality  one  of  the  finest  symbols 
the  Master  ever  used  to  set  forth  a  spiritual  truth. 
The  yoke  is  a  symbol  of  partnership  in  service  and 
it  may  be  so  constructed  that  the  stronger  partner  may 
take  the  larger  share  of  the  burden.  My  burden,  the 
burden  that  you  share  with  me  and  I  share  with  you, 
is  light,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls.  Instead 
of  fret  and  worry,  of  wear  and  tear  in  labor  we  shall 
find  joy  in  our  work  and  rest  in  our  labor.  So  shall 
"the  common  deed  of  the  common  day"  become  a 
source  of  strength  and  not  of  weakness;  of  growth 
and  not  of  decline. 

We  all  know  what  wonders  have  been  wrought  by 
scientific  methods  in  improving  plants  and  animals. 
Man  seems  almost  to  have  joined  hands  with  the 
Creator  in  hastening  the  process  of  evolution.  To 
work  these  wonders  the  man  of  science  has  imposed 
his  own  choice  upon  things  that  cannot  choose  for 
themselves.  He  chooses  for  each  thing  a  better  hered- 
ity, a  more  favorable  environment,  and  decrees  that 
the  truly  fit  shall  survive  and  the  unfit  shall  die.  He 
compels  each  thing  to  abide  by  its  own  divine  law 
of  life  and  growth  and  progress. 

When  man  by  his  own  choice  for  himself  shall  be 
careful  to  conform  to  divine  law  in  all  the  essentials 
of  life  and  growth;  when  he  chooses  for  himself  the 
divine  heredity,  the  divine  environment  of  relation- 
ship which  is  the  continuous  adjustment  of  the  soul 
to  God ;  when  he  decrees  that  by  divine  help  the  fittest 
in  him  shall  survive  and  the  unfit  shall  die  daily,  then 
the  ideal  of  the  full  grown  man  shall  be  in  process 

18 


of  realization.  To  this  end  Christ  offers  to  each  hu- 
man soul  his  own  abundant  Life,  which  is  the  Birth- 
right of  every  child  of  God. 

FOURTH  STUDY. 
SPIRITUAL    DYNAMICS. 

Dynamics  is  denned  as  the  science  of  force.  Force 
is  any  agency,  latent  or  active,  that  can  cause  motion, 
arrest  or  change  the  direction  of  motion.  In  a  larger 
sense  force  is  any  cause  that  can  produce  effect. 

We  speak  of  force  as  if  it  were  something  within 
the  range  of  human  comprehension.  We  try  to  de- 
fine the  word,  yet  we  do  not  tell  what  force  is.  We 
only  state  what  it  can  do.  We  are  in  the  realm  of 
mystery,  of  miracle,  of  the  infinite,  when  we  talk  of 
force  and  of  forces. 

We  see  the  daisy  lift  its  head  above  the  clod  by  a 
force  that  transcends  gravitation,  that  mighty  unseen 
power  which  holds  uncounted  worlds  in  their  orbits. 
The  transcendent  force  that  lifts  the  daisy  is  life, 
and  the  mind  of  man  stops  in  wonder  before  the  works 
being  done,  day  by  day,  by  the  undefined  power  that 
we  call  life. 

We  think  of  light  and  talk  of  it  as  if  we  knew. 
Light  is  a  commonplace  thing.  But  the  astronomer 
will  tell  us  that  this  invisible  force  that  we  call  light 
has  its  own  fixed  laws;  and  because  the  man  of 
science  knows  and  obeys  these  laws,  light  obeys  his 
will  and  has  brought  him  word  from  a  star-world  so 
far  away  that  the  swift  messenger  was  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years  on  the  journey,  as  it  carried  the  mes- 
sage which  tells  the  stuff  of  which  the  star  is  made, 
and  the  time  limit  of  its  orbital  journey. 

We  think  and  talk  of  spiritual  force  as  if  we  knew 
19 


the  meaning  of  our  own  words.  Yet  we  know  that  to 
comprehend  this  mystery  requires  a  kind  of  knowledge 
that  we  do  not  now  possess. 

It  gladdens  us  to  know  that  man  has  eons  of  time 
for  spiritual  development  and  eternal  years  to  study 
the  secrets  of  the  universe. 

Within  the  limited  range  of  what  we  know  at  pres- 
ent we  find  many  things  that  may  reward  our  quest 
toward  the  unknown. 

We  turn  our  thought  first  to  the  so-called  natural 
forces,  light,  heat,  electricity,  gravitation,  chemism 
and  others  almost  without  number,  and  we  find  that 
certain  qualities  are  common  to  all.  They  are  each 
and  all  invisible;  we  know  them  only  by  their  effects. 
Each  force  outreaches  the  bounds  of  human  thought 
as  to  quantity.  Man  cannot  create  nor  destroy  one 
unit  of  force.  Each  force  has  its  own  fixed,  un- 
changeable laws.  By  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  a 
force  and  conformity  to  these  laws  man  may  com- 
mand the  force  for  his  own  special  purposes.  For  so 
utilizing  the  simplest  natural  force  man  must  have  a 
device  for  applying  and  directing  the  force;  he  must 
have  a  machine.  A  machine  must  be  constructed  in 
every  minute  part  according  to  the  laws  of  mechan- 
ics. Lever  and  pulley,  wheel  and  axle,  each  part  has 
its  own  fixed  law. 

One  of  the  greatest  modern  discoveries  of  science 
is  that  all  the  so-called  natural  forces  are  different 
manifestations  of  one  all-inclusive  force.  That  each 
may  be  transformed  into  another  force,  but  cannot  be 
created  nor  destroyed  by  man.  This  is  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  the  conservation  of  energy.  In  making  this 
profound  generalization,  science  stopped  short  at  the 

20 


threshold  of  a  yet  greater  truth,  that  all  the  forces  of 
nature  are  different  manifestations  of  "ONE  OMNI- 
PRESENT DIVINE  ENERGY  OR  WILL";  hence  one 
with  what  religion  has  long  since  recognized  as  spir- 
itual force,  the  out-go  of  the  all  sufficient  Personality 
back  of  created  things. 

Our  study  of  Spiritual  Dynamics  then  must  in- 
clude all  the  natural  forces  as  factors  in  this  one 
primal  all  inclusive  Force  which  is  God. 

Science  in  her  great  generalization  of  all  natural 
forces  as  one  force  found  no  single  law  that  would 
fit  this  inclusive  force.  Le  Conte  gave  us  the  clue  to 
such  a  law  and  coupled  with  it  a  new  definition  of 
Science.  "The  laws  of  nature  are  regular  modes  of 
operation  of  divine  energy  or  will;  invariable  because 
he  is  unchangeable."  "Science  is  systematic  knowl- 
edge of  divine  thoughts  and  divine  ways."  Boutroux, 
a  noted  French  philosopher,  speaks  of  a  time  when 
we  shall  recognize  "a  science  which  shall  embrace  all 
knowledge,  because  it  sees  all  things  in  God." 

What  then  is  the  law  of  this  one  ultimate  force 
that  includes  all  natural  forces,  and  also  spiritual 
force?  If  all  force  is  divine  the  law  of  all  force  must 
also  be  divine,  must  be  spiritual.  We  seek  spiritual 
law  on  the  plane  of  the  spiritual.  Here  is  the  one 
universal  divine  law,  the  keeping  of  which  will  bring 
man  into  harmony  with  the  divine  will,  hence  into 
harmony  with  divine  power. 

"Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

Apply  now  the  scientific  principle  that  in  order  to 
utilize  any  force  there  must  be  conformity  to  the  law 
of  the  force.  Let  science  and  religion  join  hands  and 

21 


conform  to  this  universal  divine  law  wherever  in  all 
the  world  men  touch  the  springs  of  human  life,  and 
the  sources  of  production;  and  we  shall  see  all  the 
mighty  forces  of  nature  added  to  the  spiritual  forces 
now  in  action,  for  the  advancement  of  human  welfare, 
for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  here  on  earth. 

We  have  seen  that  any  force  of  nature  to  be  con- 
trolled by  man  must  have  a  medium  of  manifestation, 
a  mechanism  made  conformable  to  law.  What  is  the 
mechanism  through  which  spiritual  power  may  mani- 
fest itself  here  on  earth?  We  touch  here  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  truths  of  Christ's  teachings.  Man  is 
the  medium,  the  mechanism  through  which  divine 
power  may  manifest  itself  for  the  bringing  in  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  here  and  now. 

If  the  medium  through  which  physical  force  is 
to  be  utilized  must  be  made  conformable  to  law  and 
kept  in  order  to  avoid  friction  and  limitation  of 
power,  what  of  the  mechanism  through  which  spiritual 
power  may  manifest  itself?  Here  is  a  challenge  for 
efficiency. 

Man's  body  is  the  most  perfect  piece  of  machinery 
ever  made.  It  is  man's  duty  as  a  child  of  God  to  keep 
this  part  of  himself  in  order,  that  it  may  help  and  not 
hinder  the  divine  Spirit  which  seeks  it  as  a  medium 
of  work  in  the  world.  This  may  be  done  by  knowing 
and  obeying  the  laws  of  physical  life,  laws  as  truly 
divine  and  imperative  as  any  other  laws  of  God. 

So  of  the  mind.  Here  again  we  are  in  the  domain 
of  law.  Who  shall  estimate  or  set  bounds  to  the  pow- 
er of  the  mind  of  one  man,  developed  and  used  in 
harmony  with  divine  law  and  yielded  to  the  Spirit  of 
Truth  which  is  promised  to  guide  into  all  truth? 

22 


Of  spiritual  media  through  which  the  power  of 
God  may  be  manifested  Paul  singles  out  faith,  hope 
and  love.  The  promises  made  to  faith  alone  stagger 
us  by  their  greatness;  and  as  for  love,  read  I  Corin- 
thians 13  and  Eph.  3:14-21,  and  stand  in  awe. 

If  there  is  limitation  of  power  in  the  physical 
realm,  it  is  on  the  side  of  the  mechanism  and  not  of 
the  force.  Electricity  cannot  light  a  million  homes, 
cannot  turn  uncounted  wheels,  cannot  speak  through 
the  air,  cannot  do  any  of  its  wonderful  works  in  the 
world  without  the  various  forms  of  mechanism 
through  which  it  is  today  manifesting  its  power.  Man 
may  limit  this  force  by  failing  to  supply  proper  media 
for  its  expression.  He  may  enable  it  to  do  mighty 
works  by  conforming  to  its  laws. 

If  there  is  limitation  of  power  in  the  spiritual 
realm  it  is  on  the  side  of  the  human  mechanism  and 
not  of  the  Power.  The  Power  is  unlimited.  It  is  said 
of  the  children  of  Israel  because  of  their  failure  at 
Kadesh-Barnea,  that  "they  limited  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel."  Ps.  78:41.  Jesus  himself  could  not  in  his 
own  land  do  many  mighty  works  because  of  the  un- 
belief of  the  people  who  saw  in  him  only  the  car- 
penter's son.  Matt.  13:55-58. 

As  man  may  limit  God  by  failing  to  supply  the 
medium  for  the  divine  power  which  is  ever  at  hand, 
so  he  may  enable  the  Holy  One  to  do  his  wonderful 
works  in  the  world,  by  conforming  to  divine  law. 
As  there  are  unexplored  resources  of  power  in  every 
natural  force,  so  there  are  unexplored  resources  of 
power  in  God,  for  help  in  all  the  right  purposes  of 
life — for  hastening  the  coming  of  the  kingdom.  Acts 
1:8. 

23 


FIFTH  STUDY. 
SPIRITUAL  GRAVITATION. 

Early  in  the  Seventeenth  century  Galileo  startled 
the  religious  world  by  his  discovery  that  the  earth  is 
not  the  center  of  the  universe,  but  that  it  moves  about 
the  sun.  The  discoverer  came  near  losing  his  life  for 
his  bold  assertion.  Later  in  the  same  century  came 
the  even  more  startling  discovery  by  Newton  of  the 
law  of  gravitation. 

Voltaire  openly  advocated  Newton's  views,  think- 
ing that  he  had  now  found  an  unanswerable  argument 
that  would  banish  God  from  the  course  of  nature. 

Today  many  of  our  greatest  astronomers  and  other 
men  of  science  regard  the  conception  of  one  force 
pervading  infinite  space,  and  one  law  guiding  un- 
numbered worlds  in  their  orbits,  as  the  strongest 
proof  of  the  imminence  of  God.  Truly  the  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God. 

It  was  surely  a  daring  generalization  on  which 
Newton  announced  this  great  law, — "Any  two  par- 
ticles of  matter  attract  each  other  with  a  force  which 
is  proportionate  to  their  masses  and  inversely  pro- 
portional to  the  square  of  the  distance  between  them.9' 
Shall  we  find  that  this  force  of  gravitation  and  the 
law  from  which  it  never  varies  by  a  hair's  breadth 
can  teach  us  valuable  lessons  of  spiritual  life? 

Two  bodies,  as  the  earth  and  the  sun,  have  each  an 
attraction  for  the  other,  and  somewhere  between  the 
two  is  a  point  or  line  of  equilibrium  between  the  two 
forces.  Note  that  this  is  only  a  point  or  line,  and 
that  every  particle  of  matter  between  the  earth  and 
the  sun  must  be  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  this  in- 
visible line,  hence  more  strongly  attracted  to  one  body 
than  to  the  other. 

24 


For  man  there  are  but  two  centers  of  attraction 
and  two  motive  powers  which  determine  his  direction 
of  movement,  his  actions,  his  character.  The  one 
center  of  attraction  is  God.  The  other  center  is  self. 
One  motive  power  is  love.  The  other  is  selfishness. 
Love  is  the  source  of  all  the  good  in  the  world. 
Selfishness  is  the  source  of  all  the  evil  in  the  world. 

God  as  a  center  is  drawing  every  man  to  himself 
by  the  persuasive  power  of  a  perfect  ideal  and  the 
attractive  force  of  love.  At  the  same  time  every  man 
is  being  drawn  towards  the  self-center  by  the  urge  of 
his  own  lower  nature  and  in  obedience  to  the  law  of 
selfishness. 

Here  again  we  find  man's  royal  privilege  of  choice. 
He  may  and  must  choose  his  center  of  gravitation, 
shall  it  be  God,  or  shall  it  be  self?  He  must  choose 
the  law  of  his  life.  Shall  it  be  love  or  shall  it  be 
selfishness?  Here  is  a  test  by  which  we  may  know, 
by  what  a  man  is,  which  of  these  motives  is  the  law 
of  his  life.  Love  seeks  the  highest  good  of  its  object, 
without  regard  to  the  gratification  of  the  lower  self. 
Selfishness  seeks  gratification  of  the  lower  self  with- 
out regard  to  the  good  of  its  object,  be  that  object 
self,  or  neighbor,  or  God. 

Again  we  turn  to  the  great  law  of  the  kingdom  as 
our  standard:  "Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
Usually  we  think  of  only  two  objectives  as  named  in 
this  law,  God  and  the  neighbor;  but  we  lose  the  true 
meaning  of  the  law  if  we  fail  to  include  the  third 
objective,  "Self."  We  are  speaking  now,  not  of  an 
emotion  which  may  call  itself  by  the  holy  name  of 
25 


love.  We  are  speaking  of  love  which  is  of  the  very 
nature  of  God.  Love  of  self  is  as  far  removed  from 
selfishness  as  the  east  is  from  the  west. 

Apply  now  our  test,  beginning  with  self.  The  man 
who  loves  himself  seeks  his  own  highest  good  without 
regard  to  the  gratification  of  his  own  lower  self.  This 
gives  him  the  only  true  standard  for  loving  his  neigh- 
bor. If  he  love  his  neighbor  as  himself  he  will  seek 
the  neighbor's  highest  good  without  regard  to  the 
gratification  of  himself.  If  he  love  God  he  will  seek 
the  highest  that  God  seeks;  and  if  he  love  himself  he 
must  love  God,  for  that  is  his  own  highest  good. 

Having  chosen  his  life  center,  either  God  or  self, 
and  having  made  the  law  of  his  life  either  love  or 
selfishness,  we  find  every  man  on  the  God  side  or  on 
the  self  side  of  the  line  of  equilibrium  between  the 
two  centers,  God  and  self,  good  and  evil. 

We  have  learned  from  our  own  observation  and 
experience  that  every  man  is  himself  a  force  of  gravi- 
tation. This  is  in  harmony  with  the  physical  law, 
every  particle  attracts  every  other  particle.  Here  we 
find  the  glory  and  the  pathos  of  life.  Every  man  as 
a  gravity  force  is  attracting  men  toward  God  or  to- 
ward the  great  mass  of  selfishness  which  is  on  every 
hand.  He  is  adding  to  the  attractive  power  of  God 
his  own  attractive  force,  or  he  is  adding  to  the  at- 
tractive forces  of  evil  in  the  world. 

And  he  must  do  this  whether  he  deliberately  plans 
it  or  not.  He  makes  his  choice  when  he  chooses  his 
life  center,  self  or  God.  It  is  not  by  his  words  that 
a  man  is  the  greatest  attractive  force  for  good  or  evil. 
It  is  by  what  he  is.  "What  you  are  thunders  so  loud 
I  cannot  hear  what  you  say." 

26 


Men  pass  the  line  of  equilibrium  between  self  and 
God  at  the  new  birth,  but  some  keep  dangerously  near 
the  line  even  after  they  are  new  born.  John  was  the 
"Beloved  Disciple"  because  he  chose  his  place  nearest 
to  the  heart  of  the  Master;  and  what  a  drawing  power 
he  is  in  the  world  today. 

Of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  drawing  power  Napoleon  at 
St.  Helena  gave  this  testimony:  "I  and  Alexander 
founded  empires  on  force.  Today  I  am  an  exile  and 
no  man  does  my  bidding;  and  where  is  the  empire 
of  Alexander?  Jesus  Christ  founded  an  empire  on 
love  and  he  alone  has  succeeded  in  so  raising  men  to 
the  unseen  that  they  become  insensible  to  barriers  of 
time  and  space.  Across  the  chasm  of  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  Jesus  Christ  makes  a  demand,  which  of  all 
others,  is  difficult  to  satisfy.  He  demands  the  human 
heart,  and  today  millions  of  men  would  die  for  him. 
This  it  is  that  proves  to  me  quite  conclusively  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ." 

SIXTH  STUDY. 
THE  SPIRITUAL  KINGDOM. 

In  our  first  study  we  have  said  that  one  great  pur- 
pose of  the  Christ  in  coming  to  the  earth  as  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  was  to  establish  here  and  now  a  spiritual 
kingdom  in  which  the  will  of  God  shall  be  done  as  it 
is  done  in  heaven.  Our  five  studies  already  given 
have  steadily  kept  this  end  in  view. 

Prophets  and  sages  of  old  had  seen  in  vision  a 
kingdom  of  God  which  had  these  signs: 

"His  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom."  Dan. 
4:3.  "A  kingdom  of  glorious  majesty."  Ps.  145:12. 
"A  kingdom  that  ruleth  over  all."  Ps.  103:19.  "Of 
27 


the  increase  of  his  kingdom  and  peace  there  shall  be 
no  end."  Is.  9:6-7. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  public  ministry,  "Jesus 
went  about  all  Galilee,  preaching  the  good  tidings  of 
the  kingdom."  Matt.  4:23.  He  sent  out  the  twelve 
with  one  message,  "As  ye  go  preach,  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  Matt.  10:7.  He  gave  the  same 
word  to  be  spoken  by  the  seventy  whom  he  sent  out 
later. 

Our  Lord's  teachings,  especially  his  many  parables, 
centered  largely  in  the  thought  of  the  kingdom.  He 
taught  men  to  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come."  In  those 
wonderful  forty  days  after  his  resurrection  when  he 
appeared  to  many,  but  especially  to  his  chosen  dis- 
ciples, he  was  "Speaking  of  the  things  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  God."  Acts  1:3. 

So  from  the  far  off  days  of  the  prophets  down  to 
our  own  day  people  have  been  thinking  and  talking 
about  "A  Kingdom  of  God."  Many  different  ideas 
have  been  held  concerning  this  kingdom.  The  Jews 
thought  it  was  to  be  a  temporal  kingdom  with  a  king 
of  mighty  power  on  the  throne  of  David.  When 
Jesus  fed  the  multitude  on  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  they  thought  he  must  surely  be  the  promised 
one,  and  sought  by  force  to  make  him  a  king. 

The  disciples  held  to  this  view  concerning  Jesus. 
On  the  day  of  his  resurrection  the  two  who  walked 
to  Emmans  and  saw  the  Lord  but  knew  him  not,  said, 
"We  hoped  that  it  was  he  who  should  redeem  Israel." 
Luke  24:21.  Just  before  the  Master's  ascension  the 
disciples  asked,  "Lord,  dost  thou  at  this  time  restore 
the  kingdom  to  Israel?"  Acts.  1:6. 

In  all  the  Christian  ages  many  believers  in  Christ 
28 


have  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  in 
heaven  and  that  believers  will  come  into  the  kingdom 
only  after  death. 

The  belief  current  in  many  minds  today  is  that  the 
kingdom  will  not  come  on  earth  until  Christ  returns 
in  bodily  form  to  dwell  among  men. 

What  was  Christ's  idea  of  the  kingdom?  Al- 
though it  had  been  announced  again  and  again, 
"The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand,"  still 
the  people  were  in  doubt.  The  Pharisees  asked 
him  when  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  and 
he  gave  in  one  short  sentence  the  time  and 
place  and  character  of  the  kingdom.  "The  king- 
dom of  God  cometh  not  with  outward  show,  neither 
shall  ye  say,  'Look  here!'  or  'Look  there!'  for  lo,  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you;  or,  in  your  midst." 

Christ's  most  perfect  word  description  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  kingdom  is  in  the  prayer  he  taught  men 
to  pray,  "Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven."  Paul's  great  definition  of  the  kingdom  is  in 
Rom.  14:17,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  eating  and 
drinking,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Spirit." 

Jesus  seems  almost  to  go  beyond  the  power 
of  language  in  setting  before  his  hearers  in  plain  word 
and  in  parable  what  the  kingdom  is  like.  The  short- 
est and  most  wonderful  of  these  parables  we  find  in 
Matt.  13:33,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  leaven 
which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened."  No  one  on  earth, 
except  Jesus  himself,  knew  at  that  time  the  nature  of 
leaven.  That  is  a  recent  discovery  of  science,  a 
discovery  that  waited  for  the  microscope.  Leaven  is 
life  and  growth.  It  is  a  plant  which  forms  buds  and 

29 


each  bud  breaks  off  and  forms  a  new  plant.  And 
these  countless  microscopic  plants  assimilate  the  life- 
less mass  of  meal,  particle  by  particle,  and  vitalize  it; 
and  the  growth  continues  till  the  last  particle  is 
reached  and  made  alive, — till  the  whole  is  leavened. 
The  kingdom  is  like  leaven. 

The  truth  of  the  kingdom  growing  as  a  living  thing 
is  beautifully  set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  seed  grow- 
ing while  men  sleep,  yielding  first  the  blade,  then  the 
ear,  then  the  full  grain  in  the  ear.  Mark  4:26-28, 
also  in  the  parable  of  the  mustard  seed.  Mark. 
4:30-32. 

Through  the  life  of  God  in  man,  as  so  wonder- 
fully set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  vine  and  the 
branches,  not  only  is  each  life  to  be  transformed  into 
the  likeness  of  Christ,  but  human  society  in  all  its 
varied  activities  is  to  be  transformed.  Dr.  James  A. 
Francis  gives  us  this  illuminating  definition  of  the 
kingdom,  "Human  society  in  this  world  transformed 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  till  it  becomes  a  copy  of  society 
around  the  throne.** 

Science  with  its  manifold  discoveries  and  inven- 
tions has  made  the  whole  earth  one  neighborhood. 
The  leaven  of  spiritual  life  in  Christ  is  to  make  the 
whole  world  one  brotherhood.  In  the  kingdom  of 
God  each  citizen  is  "a  child  of  the  king,"  hence  all 
are  brothers. 

The  most  far-reaching,  the  most  stupendous,  the 
most  seemingly  impossible  thing  ever  undertaken  on 
this  earth  is  the  establishing  of  this  kingdom  of  God 
among  men.  We  stand  in  awe  before  the  task  and 
readily  admit,  "With  men  it  is  impossible."  But  we 
turn  with  joy  to  the  Master's  added  word,  "All  things 
are  possible  with  God."  Mark  10:27. 

30 


Never  before  have  the  forces  of  good  and  evil  been 
so  fiercely  arrayed  against  each  other  as  today.  Many 
in  the  past  have  regarded  religion  as  a  thing  apart 
from  the  work-a-day  world;  as  something  for  Sun- 
day; for  churches  and  Sunday  Schools;  good  for 
women  and  small  children.  Men  have  been  playing 
at  the  game  of  fighting  evil: — fighting  it  by  snatches; 
fighting  it  in  patches;  fighting  it  by  man-made  de- 
vices. Today  the  world  is  awaking  to  see  that  the 
fight  is  on  at  its  fiercest;  that  all  the  forces  of  good, — 
that  the  great  army  of  God  must  be  set  in  array  along 
the  whole  line  of  battle  and  that  only  by  the  aid  of 
divine  Power  can  the  victory  be  won.  Paul  clothed 
his  Christian  warrior  in  armor.  We  have  been  wear- 
ing soft  raiment  and  abiding  in  palaces.  Meanwhile 
the  forces  of  evil  have  seized  upon  and  turned  to 
their  own  selfish  and  fiendish  purposes  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  earth  and  all  the  mighty  forces  of  nature. 
These  must  be  captured  from  the  enemy  and  made  to 
serve  all  men;  made  to  serve  for  the  bringing  in  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  all  the  earth. 

The  one  law  of  the  kingdom  is  the  law  of  love. 
Jesus  had  given  it  again  and  again,  but  in  the  upper 
room  he  gave  it  as  a  new  commendment  and  added 
this  test,  "That  ye  love  one  another  even  as  I  have 
loved  you."  Study  this  divine  love  in  its  sacrificial 
pouring  out  of  life  itself.  This  is  study  for  a  life- 
time. 

In  this  divine  love  in  action  we  find  cure  for  all 
the  evils  of  the  world.  And  this  cure  is  to  be  wrought 
by  divine  love  and  power  manifested  in  and  through 
human  agencies,  through  men  who  are  heirs  of  God 

31 


through  spiritual  birth;  through  men  who  are  re- 
sponsive to  divine  environment;  who  by  the  help  of 
the  indwelling  Christ  are  choosing  that  in  them  the 
fit  shall  survive  and  the  unfit  shall  die;  men  who 
have  accepted  Christ's  offered  gift  of  abundant  life; 
men  who  are  so  in  harmony  with  divine  law  that 
infinite  power  can  be  manifested  in  and  through 
them  for  the  mighty  tasks;  men  who  through  what 
they  are,  and  what  they  do  as  the  out-go  of  the  life 
of  God  in  them,  are  attracting  the  world  away  from 
the  self -center  toward  the  true  center,  which  is  God; 
men  who,  whatever  their  occupation  for  daily  bread 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness. 
Through  such  agencies  the  prayer  which  Jesus 
taught  men  to  pray  is  being  answered  and  we  see  in 
vision  the  dawn  of  the  New  Day  when  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  shall  have  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  his  Christ;  AND  HE,  THE  KING  ETER- 
NAL, IMMORTAL,  INVISIBLE,  SHALL  PRESIDE 
AS  PRINCE  OF  PEACE  IN  THE  PARLIAMENT 
OF  MAN,  THE  FEDERATION  OF  THE  WORLD. 


32 


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